Member of the Main Board of the Europe Now Movement (PES) Petra Celebic she resigned from all functions in the party because she does not want "to be part of the story that makes Montenegro a mere shell of an independent state".
Čelebić told "Vijesta" that the decision to leave the political party, in which she was a member of the Executive Board, the Main Board and the Podgorica Municipal Board, "was not made easily."
"The movement that was originally founded by fifteen of us, and which was later joined by others, especially after the victory in the elections in Podgorica, no longer represents a set of values and principles that united us and in which many of us believed," stated Čelebić.
Two "Vijesti" sources, familiar with her resignation, said that Čelebić will be on the Podgorica list of the former Minister of Justice. Andrej Milović. Milović, who was expelled from PES, announced at the end of July that he will lead the Podgorica list, which, as he said then, will not include any of the former and current politicians, "but faces well known to the whole of Podgorica".
Čelebić was an employee in the former Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare, in the Government Zdravka Krivokapića, when the Minister of Finance was Milojko Spajic. Later, according to a "Vijesti" source, she worked for Milović when he was the Minister of Justice.
Explaining the reasons for leaving PES, Čelebić said that the compromises made by PES, instead of consolidating the support of the political center, disappointed the voters.
"Once you go the wrong way, every next stop is wrong," said Celebic.
She said that as a Montenegrin, regardless of the enormous effort and work she invested in the idea of PES, "she cannot and will not support those who, through their actions, whether active or passive, contribute to Montenegro becoming susceptible to influences that will make it only independent on paper".
"My goal has always been to work in the interest of Montenegro and its citizens, and I can no longer do that within this party. If I have to choose, I choose not to be a part of the story that turns my country into a mere shell of an independent state and a playground for other people's ill-intentioned interests. In short: it is no longer the same party to which I gave my trust, time and all my energy since its founding", Čelebić concluded.
Andrej Milović's list should appear independently in the upcoming elections in Podgorica.
"The movement that was originally founded by fifteen of us, and which was later joined by others, especially after the victory in the elections in Podgorica, no longer represents a set of values and principles that united us and in which many of us believed," said Čelebić
President of Montenegro Jakov Milatovic, who is one of the founders of PES, but left the party in February, has announced elections in the capital for September 29. The elections were called after the Podgorica parliament was dissolved at the end of July by the votes of opposition councilors, the Movement for Podgorica close to Milatović, the Civic Movement (GP) URA and one councilor from the Movement for Change (PzP). The outgoing government in Podgorica consists of PES, a coalition gathered around the former Democratic Front (DF), Democrats and GP URA.
Milović was a member of the PES Presidency until he was expelled from the party at the end of February, but he remained the Minister of Justice until the reconstruction of the Government on July 23.
At the time, PES said that Milović was expelled from the party because "he did not maintain the level of results as a minister".
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